The 50th Law Will Teach You To Be Your Own Hero

Robert Greene and 50 Cent’s book “The 50th Law” is basically the most unlikely literary collaboration in the history of literature…ever!

But they did combine their unique genius to write this absolutely brilliant book.

While 50 cent reveals some of the most captivating experiences he went through growing up selling drugs, Robert Greene manages to weave these stories into unforgettable lessons we can all apply in our own lives.

In this clip, Robert and 50 discuss their book, which was published in 2009:

While no official synopsis of the book has be found, “The 50th Law” guaranteed to be a sell out, tell-all, business writ for the success driven. There has long been a well-known paralleling of practices between the corporate and street organizations that run America.

I can say that “The 50th Law” brilliant as it is, is absolutely notfor everyone!

It is for those of us who have an alpha, warrior personality who are focused on one thing: winning.

So if this is who you are, then this is definitely the book for you.

50 cent and Robert Greene will teach you, primarily, about how to be fearless.

They will also teach you 3 other principles:

How to embrace chaos and sudden change in your life

Overcoming the fear of your mortality staring at you right in your face and

How to turn set backs to your own advantage instead of allowing them to defeat you

Here are the most notable points I took from the book:

Do Not Run From The Reality Of Your Life.

Stop complaining about your current circumstances. All that will do is keep you exactly where you are.

Instead, use these situations to make you stronger.

Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses, and once you do this, use this newfound self awareness to craft a strategy for the new life you want to live.

2. Become Self-Reliant

When you start relying on people to give you opportunities and resources, then you are giving someone else control over you.

Other people become your crutch, so essentially, you are making them strong, and you, weak.

People care more about themselves than they do about you. The faster you internalize this, the better it will be for you.

Begin to take back your life!

You may not be in a position right now to have total freedom, but you can create a game plan to change this.

Make a plan to

move to a new career from a dead end job

to get out of debt

to get out of that bad relationship.

All these are dependencies your mind has become accustomed to.

It is now up to you to unshackle yourself from these mental chains if you are going to taste real freedom.

3. Turn Your Negatives into Positives

“Every negative situation contains the possibility for something positive, an opportunity. It is how you look at it that matters.”

When life backs us into a corner, we usually take it at face value. We usually believe that the bad situation we are in is all there is.

It does not occur to us that within this difficulty, there lies an opportunity. Maybe even several!

When 50 cent got shot 9 times, he was poised to drop his debut album through Columbia Records, but after the incident, everything fell apart for him.

Columbia dropped him. Nobody in the industry was willing to work with him

The shooters were still after him to finish the job

He had no resources to pull him out of his situation. He was broke.

Worse still, he could do nothing more but spent months healing from the attempt on his life

But his tenacity still taught him to see the opportunities even in this incredibly grim situation.

50 cent focused on getting better and stronger.

He got back into music, and this time it was much more melodic and gritty.

He no longer had the record industry to promote his music, so he decided to use the bootleggers to distribute his mixtapes.

All of this created a huge buzz for him in 2002, and he was an underground sensation.

This buzz eventually got Eminem’s attention, and truly, the rest is history.

50 went from having everything taken away from him to being the biggest selling artist in 2003, selling 12 million copies of his album “Get Rich Or Die Trying”.

So in conclusion, no matter how bad your situation, it all boils down to how you choose to look at it, and how you can capitalize off of any situation you are in.

4. Rigidity Equals Slow Death

Remaining fixed in your mental, emotional and physical state will keep you right there.

I read a quote somewhere that comfort may be a beautiful thing, but it contains no room for growth.

Many of us like to live in our past, our glory days, when things were better.

We want to hold on to what works: a regular routine that does not require too much from us…

…but this is a recipe for disaster in the long run.

We have to learn to be flexible, malleable and to adjust as quickly as possible to change.

If we do not do this, then we will certainly be left behind in an ever changing, fast paced world.

5. Embrace Criticism

In order to be truly successful, it is crucial for you to receive meaningful feedback.

Learn to ask for help and do not be afraid of the responses you receive.

Whatever you are working towards, always speak to individuals who have smarter and more experienced than you are to get constructive criticism about what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

This will do two things for you:

it will allow you to avoid mistakes that could be costly in the future

you improve quickly on your skills and your ability to make significantly better decisions.

6. Respect the process

“You must learn early on to endure the hours of practice and drudgery, knowing that in the end all of that time will translate into a higher pleasure – mastery of a craft and of yourself.”

Your vision is a marathon, not a race.

More than ever, I have noticed people around me getting caught up in making money quickly.

In Nairobi where I know a lot of young people who spend their days in gambling sites or any opportunities online to make quick money.

It is sad to watch these kids refuse to make sacrifices to sharpen their talents and skills, because these will be what supports them in the long run, not the fast money!

Do not be seduced by quick gains and short term rewards.

Create a plan, and execute that plan.

Eventually, your work, consistency and patience will pay off.

Where necessary, find yourself a mentor who can guide you to your goal or vision.

You can either take the short cut, get the quick gains and lose them all, or you can make the decision to learn and apply your knowledge on a daily basis, creating a routine of self discipline and focus for yourself.

With time, these skills will be embedded in you. They will become second nature, and you will use them to achieve the greatness that you seek.

I am fearful that my younger friends will only realise this when it is too late.

7. Push Yourself

“…ask for more, aim high, and believe that you are destined for something great”

I believe the worst thing you can do in life is to lower your expectations.

When you do this, you’re basically telling the universe that where you are is where you belong, and you do not deserve anything more.

“Your sense of self-worth comes from you alone – never the opinion of others.”

You know who you are and you know what you want, and even though your current reality does not match your desires, it does not mean you are destined to stay there.

Be bold enough to figure out a plan to get to your biggest dreams.

Never ever rely on the opinion of others to steer you anywhere. How can you do this when you have no idea at what level they are playing their game of life?

Do not apologize for your ambitions in life.

You are going to have to believe in yourself more than anyone else ever has, more than the one person in your life who loves you the most.

It is this self belief that will carry you through to the destination of greatness, freedom and abundance that you seek so fervently.

In conclusion, I chose to leave out the topics of brute force and manipulation to get what you want in life because these tactics to not rhyme with my own values.

Overall, this is a fantastic book, and I hope you pick it up either in a bookstore offline or online or that you purchase the audiobook, which, for me, is even better when you listen to it.